Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the fourth chapter of the book (a 11,000 word section). This focuses on the footballing communities that developed during the mid to late 1800s.
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On this day (31 August) in 1948 the death was announced of Walter Chew, a man associated with the first known season of St Mark’s (though there are serious doubts on whether the 16 year old played in the earliest known game based on his own comments). St Mark’s is vital in the development of Manchester City. Chew was a key figure in the club’s formative years but there are some myths out there about him and that time. His obituary above is from August 1948 which says he was 84 at the time of his death. You can find out more about Chew and the latest research below:
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Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the third chapter of the book (a 11,500 word section). This focuses on the mid 1800s and the development of Manchester’s earliest known association football club Hulme Athenaeum and its long term impact.
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Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the second chapter of the book (another 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the early to mid 1800s and talks of the development of Manchester and the sporting growth occurring at that time, including forms of football as well as cricket and horse racing etc..
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Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the first chapter of the book (a 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the middle ages up to the early 1800s and talks of the 1608 ban on football in Manchester, Peterloo and leisure activities such as cockfighting and early cricket activity, as well as football of course. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.
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Following on from yesterday’s Ardwick AFC feature, here’s another one. This focuses on the Manchester Cup… As football in Manchester developed, so did Ardwick’s desire to become one of the regions elite clubs. The Manchester Cup had been established in 1884-5 and this was quickly perceived by the majority of Mancunians as the most prestigious competition around. The Football League was not in existence until 1888 and even then Manchester failed to have any representatives, while the FA Cup had been established since the 1860s but was not seen in a positive light by Manchester’s sides. Entry into the Cup required great expense as games could be played anywhere in the United Kingdom – during the 1880s sides from Ireland competed in the FA Cup, while Scottish sides had been amongst the earliest supporters of the competition. The cost of travel clearly limited Ardwick’s ability to play beyond the Manchester region.
In April 1891 Ardwick reached the Manchester Cup final for the first time in their history. This was a major landmark and it was also the first major meeting with Newton Heath, present day Manchester United. Newton Heath had previously played in every final of the competition since it was created in 1884-5 and so this was seen as a real test for the Ardwick players.
Despite the fact that Newton Heath were the more experienced side, Ardwick took the lead thanks to a seventh minute goal from the influential captain Davie Weir. Reports simply stated that “Weir scored with a long shot”, however they did give a little information before that to suggest that the goal owed much to the earlier persistence of Bob Milarvie. Milarvie had challenged the Newton Heath goal a couple of times and had clearly surprised the Heathens. Then, after gaining the ball following a Newton Heath attack, Milarvie “got on a splendid run but was badly fouled.” From the resulting free kick Ardwick attacked and Weir netted the goal.
Ardwick did actually have another goal disallowed – they were awarded an indirect free kick and the taker blasted the ball straight into the Heathens goal without any other player touching it – but the trophy was won by the Hyde Road side for the first time.
Success in the trophy perhaps went a little to their heads when at the 1891 Football League AGM Ardwick – along with Darwen, Newton Heath, Nottingham Forest, Stoke, and Sunderland Albion – applied to join the newly expanded Football League. All the applicants, with the exception of Ardwick, were members of the Football Alliance – a league originally set up to rival the Football League. Not surprisingly, Ardwick failed to gain admittance, with the new places were filled by Stoke, who had won the Alliance, and Darwen. There was a consolation prize however and Ardwick were admitted to the Alliance League for the 1891-2 season.
The Manchester Cup had proved to be the Club’s major breakthrough and it had also proved the Ardwick were already perceived as Manchester’s club. Although Newton Heath had been the more successful club so far, Ardwick were perhaps seen as being more progressive and were already the better supported of the two. The Hyde Road derby in the Alliance League attracted a crowd of over 10,000, whereas the Heathens home game at North Road was watched by around 4,000. Even the Hyde Road derby attendance was bettered by Ardwick on two other occasions in the Alliance that season.
As well as their large support, Ardwick managed to prove their ability to live with the best when they won the Manchester Cup again. This time they convincingly defeated Football League side Bolton Wanderers 4-1. The dream of playing League football was getting closer and the Manchester Cup successes had helped that dream. One man who was proud of this achievement was Walter Chew (image below), who was with St. Mark’s in their first season of 1880-81. In 1888 he joined the Manchester FA Committee and remained an influential figure there until his death in 1949.
Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the introduction to the book. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.
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Every Monday starting on 3 August 2025 I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.
Subscribing costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or you could sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year. Every subscriber gets access to everything posted on the site.
It’s hard to believe but today marks two years since an amazing day when Manchester came together, along with a wonderful community of former footballers, to recognise the pioneering women’s team the Manchester Corinthians. It was an incredible day made possible with the support of so many individuals, groups and community leaders. So often we highlight issues, problems or moments where communities separate or fail but the long running campaign to bring recognition to the Corinthians has seen so many come together for something extremely positive.
Personally, I was touched by the support received for this campaign I’d established several years ago. The plaque unveiling was the biggest visible sign that it was succeeding with huge TV audiences tuning in. One news broadcast alone featuring the Corinthians’ plaque unveiling had 2.7 million live viewers. Add to that downloads and all the news features experienced on TV and radio that day and the number rockets significantly. There were also newspaper articles and more.
The aim, back in 2019 when I first raised the idea of erecting permanent tributes publicly in an article I wrote, had been to bring recognition and wider public awareness to the exploits of these remarkable footballers. The media coverage certainly did that and also other Corinthians came forward who had seen the coverage.
I’d particularly like to pay tribute to Jam Williams-Thomas from ITV Granada who promised me he’d ensure Granada Reports would have a camera crew there many, many months before the exact date had been finalised. That support was vital. In the end David Chisnall came from Granada Reports and did a wonderful feature on the plaque and recognising the Corinthians. Thanks to you, Jam and all at Granada Reports. It really helped (there are links to some of the TV coverage at the bottom of this article).
2019 was the year when the campaign received a lot of support. Back then I contacted many key Manchester and national institutions with the concept. Manchester City FC immediately supported the idea and that year several Corinthians, plus myself, were invited to City to attend a WSL game, where they met England international Karen Bardsley and England women manager Phil Neville. The Blues also included features in their match programme and on their website on the history of the Corinthians.
Margaret Whitworth, Karen Bardsley, Margaret Shepherd & Gary James. Several Corinthians were guests of Manchester City for a WSL game.
They’ve continued to support and promote the Corinthians’ story ever since. I don’t know how many millions read their website today but again, like the national news coverage, this level of readership is significant. I’m not daft enough to think everyone reading the stories or watching the news will want to know more about the Corinthians, but if just 1% do then that in itself is an incredible number of people who previously may not have known or understood how the Corinthians toured the globe promoting Manchester, football and female endeavour.
Simon Mullock at the Sunday Mirror helped with an excellent feature too back in the early days. That support from a national tabloid was so important in widening the news and soon, in general conversation, people were mentioning the Corinthians and their achievements. I loved that! We were getting somewhere and Simon, together with later features by renowned journalists focusing on women’s football in other newspapers, was a big part of that.
Another major supporter since the start has been the Manchester FA’s Colin Bridgford. Again in 2019 we met up to talk about what we could do to promote the Corinthians’ story and I wrote several articles for the Manchester FA’s website. That support was important and helped raise the profile of what we were trying to achieve. We also arranged a meeting with Manchester FA staff and several of the Corinthians, including Margaret Whitworth, Margaret Shepherd and Jan Lyons – three of the Corinthian stalwarts who have worked tirelessly to rightly highlight the story of their team. Plans were put in place to do other activities with the Manchester FA but sadly Covid hit and plans had to be abandoned. Colin and his team did, of course, support the plaque unveiling last October.
The FA have helped too. In fact they have not only helped promote the story but also provided significant funding to ensure permanent tributes could be made. My connection with Rachel Pavlou at The FA came via Caterina Loriggio. Cat led a major project in partnership with the Women’s Euros the other year and I acted as the Heritage Lead for Trafford Council. Via the UEFA & FA project a series of activities were established in each host city/borough and the Corinthians inevitably became part of that. I performed interviews with several Corinthians (borrowing some of their trophies and kit too for an exhibition) in Trafford and others were interviewed at Wigan & Leigh. These were filmed and are still available here:
When I discussed the idea of erecting permanent tributes with Rachel she immediately offered funds and other support to ensure the Corinthians were recognised. The FA and Cat also approved the wording for the plaque. For me this had to recognise all the Corinthians, not one person or individual moments (I knew we could pay appropriate tribute to all of that via the book I’ve been working on for several years, which will be published this summer).
The FA were not the only ones to get involved of course as the campaign brought together a wide range of people… as with every project like this there are many, unsung heroes who work tirelessly without seeking or receiving financial reward. In that category are the Friends of Fog Lane Park. They deserve immense praise, especially Pamela & Alice and the others who attended various meetings along the way and performed many tasks that made the unveiling day such a success.
Some of the Friends of Fog Lane Park at the last meeting before the Corinthians plaque unveiling
I’d been introduced to the Friends by Manchester City Council and MCRActive, in particular Paul Hulme. Jan Lyons and I had met Paul at an early meeting we’d arranged. We’d hoped there would be support from the Council and sure enough Paul was interested, particularly when Jan told some of the Corinthians’ story. Her words and experiences brought it all to life and demonstrated perfectly why we needed to get this story out there. Paul immediately set up a meeting with the Friends of Fog Lane Park and other council officials and employees.
At that meeting in the Fog Lane Park Café me, Margaret Whitworth, Margaret Shepherd and Jan Lyons, explained about the Corinthians with the former players telling their stories while the Friends were enthralled. I put it all into context in terms of the wider football and Manchester stories, then explained about the attempts to raise public awareness and how we wanted to get a Blue Plaque erected. We agreed that the Blue Plaque appeal would be established in the name of the Friends of Fog Lane Park – they had a dedicated committee of passionate individuals and the opportunity to publicly recognise the Corinthians in the park that had been their home for over two decades was wonderful.
One of the Friends of Fog Lane Park meetings where we discussed the erecting of permanent tributes, 20 May 2022
Those who donated to the appeal to erect permanent tributes to the Corinthians were: Pam Barnes, Dan Mooney, Adam Turgoose, ‘Ben’, ‘Jean J’, Jonathan Kaye, Megan Riley, Helena Byrne, Dawn Burrows, Clare Wilkins, Linda Foley, Debbie Enever, John Carrier, Jacqui McAssey, Michael Cottam, Karen Phanco, David Hoyle, Daniel Rubin, Heidi James, Gary James and the Dick, Kerr Ladies Foundation. There were a couple of anonymous donations too. It was gratifying that many of those listed were not from Manchester but were connected with women’s football in other parts of the world. That was wonderful to see. It was also fantastic that via Gail Newsham the Dick, Kerr Ladies Foundation supported the campaign with a significant donation too, proving what a great community of women’s football enthusiasts and researchers we have.
The Friends of Fog Lane Park managed to get matching funds from Manchester City Council too and the Friends had some wonderful ideas to really improve the park and tributes further. As well as the hoped for plaque and a lectern providing a Corinthians’ timeline, the Friends organised for some of the funds raised via the appeal and The FA to be spent on two impressive murals painted by artist Gavin Renshaw and for a handout to be produced for park visitors on the Corinthians. Now everybody who visits the park gets to see wonderful artwork (on a former graffiti covered building), the plaque, a lectern, an information board inside the café and the leaflet. All of this is helping get the story out there again and, for those young girls and boys kicking a ball around the park, is inspiring.
In the weeks building up to the unveiling day the Friends spent considerable time and effort tidying up the park, arranging some of the logistics, erecting the plaque itself, overseeing the mural work, organising sandwiches, baking cakes and more. It was a real community effort and all deserve thanking again.
Various media companies helped promote the plaque appeal with myself, Friends of Fog Lane Park, Margaret Whitworth, Margaret Shepherd, Jan Lyons and other Corinthians being interviewed on a fairly regular basis. Contacts I had with various stations helped enormously (you know who you are – thanks for your support) and brought airtime we couldn’t have managed with cold calls.
When it came to the plaque itself another who helped was Mark Metcalf. Mark had instigated footballing plaques at various locations and I’d been fortunate to be involved with a couple. Mark provided contacts with plaque manufacturers and helped ensure we got a decent price too.
There was also a wonderful night in Hebden Bridge in December 2021 where several Corinthians were interviewed publicly and I gave a talk on the history of women’s football. At the end of that event I announced publicly for the first time the campaign to erect a blue plaque and that brought significant interest from the people of West Yorkshire. Local businessman Geoff Matthews had funded the talk and event and that support was wonderful too.
The plaque unveiling was supported on the day by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who spoke about the Corinthians as the suffragettes of football, and former England international Kerry Davis. She had actually played against many of the Corinthians in attendance that day too. Hundreds of people attended with strong support from fans of women’s football, including several key members of the Manchester City Women Supporters Club. Former City player Stacey Copeland was a key supporter that day (as she has been at other events, including the one at Hebden Bridge) and she has made efforts herself to promote the story and help the Corinthians frequently.
It really was quite remarkable the amount of interest demonstrated that day and how the story of the Corinthians has continued to receive attention.
I know this has been a lengthy piece but I think it’s both necessary and valuable to remember what a remarkable day the plaque unveiling was and to remember all those who contributed along the way. All of those involved, especially the Friends of Fog Lane Park, put considerable effort into that day and they quite rightly stood back to ensure the Corinthians’ achievements were recognised first and foremost. That day – and in the months leading up to it – a great community came together to ensure the Corinthians were thanked for all they had done for football and Manchester and the media support ensured that story was spread loud and clear.
I am really pleased and proud with the way it developed and how such a huge community has helped along the way.
The plaque unveiling and the campaign leading up to it has been included within the Authorised History I have written. The book details every season of the Corinthians, plus their legacy, and pays tribute to these remarkable players, their managers, coaches and supporting family and friends. Community again, working together. Over 50 Corinthians covering every single season from 1940s through to the club’s demise have been interviewed, while archives have been researched extensively to correct myths and add facts to the memories of those who were there.
Over the last decade contemporary articles and film of the Corinthians has been found and I’ve written for a variety of footballing and non-footballing national, regional & local publications and websites. Some have inspired others and some have helped re-unite former players.
I think, out of everything that has been achieved over the last decade or so it’s the re-uniting of players that is most satisfying, along with the support of a wide community of organisations, volunteers, footballers and more. Thanks. The reunion in December 2024 was a truly special event and brought together over 80 people from the Corinthians’ family at the Etihad.
Manchester Corinthians Reunion 2024
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History is available from Amazon and other online retailers or direct from me here:
On this day (31 August) in 1948 the death was announced of Walter Chew, a man associated with the first known season of St Mark’s (though there are serious doubts on whether the 16 year old played in the earliest known game based on his own comments). St Mark’s is vital in the development of Manchester City. Chew was a key figure in the club’s formative years but there are some myths out there about him and that time. His obituary above is from August 1948 which says he was 84 at the time of his death. You can find out more about Chew and the latest research below:
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Gary James' Football Archive 